President Obama is courting Muslims during his middle eastern trip, including a major speech today in Egypt. He is emphasizing his middle name, “Hussein” (something that was deeply offensive during the campaign when Republicans did it), hailing his Muslim father (who was labeled an agnostic during the campaign), and now saying that if you go by population count, America is “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.” See this account from a British newspaper.
I can see the diplomatic tactics in all of this. But might that kind of talk have unintended consequences? If the president’s father was a Muslim and he himself had a Muslim background, doesn’t that mean he is guilty of apostasy if he is no longer a Muslim? If Muslims think of us as a Muslim country, that would make us part of dar al-Islam, the house of Islam, as opposed to dar al-Harb, the house of war. That could put a halt to the jihad against us, but being within the house of Islam involves certain obligations, such as shari’a law. No, I am not accusing President Obama of being a Muslim or of wanting to impose Islamic law; I’m just saying that this PR approach can be dangerous.
Do you think the President is just taking advantage of his personal story to mend fences with the Muslim world? Or do you think he is going overboard in his PR offensive?
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